Twisted Cross Aftermath
by Yankee01754
Summary: Cody suffers from lingering, and delayed, symptoms of a concussion after the case of the King Harbor Bomber is solved.


Aftermath

By Janet Brayden

_For Tinx who responded to my post at Straightaway's and wished for a sequel to my "wonderful" Mother Hen Nick. It's all yours, girl!_

Looking back, Nick figured it was inevitable and he should have seen it coming.

As he, and Murray, sat in the waiting room of King Harbor Hospital, waiting for word on Cody, he thought back to the night they first got involved with the Jennings family.

The three of them had had dates with three lovely young ladies that night. Murray's date, Kimberly, had been giving Boz strange looks because he was using the current slang words in every sentence. She'd told him "nobody says 'boss' anymore" when he'd asked her out so he'd done some research at the library. Murray being Murray he had overdone it.

Nick and Cody had sent the girls off to check out a shop they had been interested in earlier, then had a little chat - reasonably gentle - with Murray. Nick had told him that the girls were starting to look at him like he was out of his tree. Cody had taken Murray's glasses out of his pocket and put them where they belonged - on the computer whiz's face. Then he had patiently told him that he should spread his "happening hipness" out over the whole evening (after Nick told him the trick was not to use all the new words in every sentence). Together they had walked off to find the girls.

They hadn't gotten very far when a disturbance, on the other side of the street caught their attention. Cody was the first to respond to the attempted kidnapping. Nick was right on his heels and Murray behind him.

The short but furious battle had saved the teenager but left his father stunned and Nick and Murray slightly shaken up. It wasn't long - probably a few seconds - before the two dark haired detectives realized that Cody wasn't in sight. They found him, tangled up in some baskets and such, behind the counter of one of the souvenir stands on the street.

"Cody?"

"Are you all right, buddy?"

The two younger men helped their friend out of the mess and onto his feet. That, however didn't last long. Cody swayed on his feet and would have fallen but for Nick's quick action.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Nick said. "Are you all right?"

"My eyes are rolling around in my head," Cody had said to him.

His face had been pale enough to worry Nick though Murray didn't notice as much for he had asked the man, and his son, if they were all right. He'd gotten a postive reply and an introduction and a positive reply.

After a few minutes Cody seemed to recover and, a few days later, they had exposed Kyle Jennings as the King Harbor Bomber. He had set bombs off, destroying buildings, in ethnic neighborhoods. Jennings was a dyed in the wool believer in the Nazi policies and had been raising his son - of whom he had sole custody - in that same manner. Anyone who paid close attention could see that Chad really wasn't the same as his father and it was to come to the forefront when Kirk Dooley, acting undercover as a student at Jennings' Peninsula Boys' Institute, had been taken prisoner. Together Chad and Kirk, along with Cody who really shouldn't have been driving or anything else, overpowered Kyle, stopped the explosives laden van, and gotten the students out just in time.

Several days later they were driving to the King Harbor precinct where Lieutenant Ted Quinlan was waiting to take their statements .Cody's right hand left the wheel of the Jimmy and absently rubbed at his temple.

This action didn't go unnoticed by Nick. "You okay, buddy?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just have a little headache."

Boz was sitting in the back as always. He frowned himself but couldn't - due to their normal seating arrangement - exchange concerned looks with Nick.

"You sure? You've been looking a little pale the last few days. Maybe it'd be a good idea to have a little 'down time' once we're through giving our statements to Quinlan."

"For what? Just because I have a little headache? Don't be ridiculous!" Cody scoffed.

Nick sneaked a glance over his shoulder at Murray. Murray shrugged. There wasn't much they could do right now anyway. However, they were both determined to see that Cody got that down time he so obviously - to them anyway - needed.

They arrived at the precinct and Cody parked the truck. The three of them exited the vehicle and started toward the building.

"Why are we here, Nick? I forget?" Cody's blue eyes were puzzled.

"We have to give our statements to Quinlan about Jennings," was the reply.

"Oh, okay. Let's go do it then."

Cody took a few steps then suddenly stopped. He stood for a moment swaying enough for both of his friends to notice. Nick was quick to take hold of Cody's arm and try to steady him.

"You okay?" The Italian was quite concerned. He would have thought Cody's dizzy spells had ended the night of the attempted kidnapping.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What is it we're here to do again? 

Nick was getting very concerned and his worry was mirrored in Murray's brown eyes as he stopped on Cody's other side.

"We're here to give our statements to Quinlan about Jennings, remember?"

"Oh. Yeah. I remember."

The two younger men stayed very close beside Cody as they made their way into the building. More than once in the short time it took to get to the lieutenant's office Cody seemed to lose his balance. He also seemed to be confused. Nick was getting anxious to get this interview over and done with. He wanted to get Cody to a doctor. The blond was not acting like himself at all.

"It's about time you bozos got here!" Quinlan was as pleasant as ever.

"You said ten o'clock, Lieutenant," Murray reminded him. "It's only ten o'clock now."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get started." The balding, scar-faced police officer indicated chairs for the visitors to sit in. Then he handed each of the three private detectives paper and a pen with which to record their statements regarding the events of the last few days.

Murray and Nick got started right away. Cody just sat there and stared at his paper. Quinlan noticed this and bellowed.

"What's the matter with you Allen? Why aren't you writing?"

"Huh?"

"Why aren't you writing your statement?"

Cody stared at his paper. It kept wavering in front of him. Which one of these papers was he supposed to be writing on? The one on the left or the one on the right?

"Statement? About what?"

Nick's head came up in alarm. Something was definitely not right with Cody. He knew perfectly well what statement so why was he acting so confused?

"About what. About the Jennings case - the King Harbor bomber, you idiot! What's the matter with you anyway?"

"Back off, Lieutenant!" the Italian snapped. "He'll get it done." Turning to Cody he said, "You're supposed to be writing your version of what happened over the last few days when we met Kyle and Chad Jennings - and our client, Sally."

"Oh. Jennings?" Cody was still confused. He reached up to rub his head again.

Murray spoke this time, "Yes, Cody, remember? Some men tried to kidnap Chad. We broke it up and then we met his mother, Sally the next day. "

The blond listened but he was having trouble concentrating on what Murray was saying.

"Sally Jennings? Chad?"

"Yes, Sally and Chad. Kyle is her ex-husband, remember? We found out that he was the King Harbor Bomber."

"What's the matter with you, Allen?" Quinlan snapped. "It's simple enough. Just write down what you remember and what you found out about Jennings."

"About what?"

"Okay, that does it!" Quinlan was really angry. He needed those reports and Cody's strange behavior wasn't getting them anywhere.

Nick glared at the officer, then focused his attention on Cody. Gently he took his buddy's chin in his right hand and turned Cody to look at him. The older man's eyes were slightly glazed and it was evident that he still had a headache as he squinted in the bright light. When he spoke his words were slurred. This was not good. Cody needed to see a doctor - and soon!

"Sorry, lieutenant," Nick said getting up from his seat. "The statements are gonna have to wait. Cody's sick and he needs to see a doctor right away.

"Sick? What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," Nick told the man, "but he did take a whack to the head the other night. It may be a delayed reaction or it could be a concussion or something more serious." He took Cody by the right arm, while Boz took Cody's left arm. Together they got him out of his chair and started out of Quinlan's office.

"Ryder."

Nick turned halfway to look back at Ted Quinlan.

"Make sure you tell the doctor about that bump on the head. It sounds like he may have a concussion."

"Thanks, Lieutenant," Nick said. "I'll let you know what we find out."

"Yeah, yeah. Just so's you get back here as soon as possible to give your statements."

The trio left the precinct and headed to the hospital with Quinlan's words ringing in their ears. For all his gruff attitude, and his seeming hatred - or disdain - for the private detectives, he really did care. Besides he really did need their statements and it was obvious that Cody was in no condition to give his.

The men of the Riptide were scarcely halfway across the parking lot when Cody suddenly collapsed. Only Nick's fast action kept the blond from falling to the pavement. He scooped him up as if he were a child and carried him the rest of the way with Murray scurrying ahead to start the truck.

"What seems to be the trouble, gentleman?" a nurse in her early forties with blonde hair and brown eyes asked. Her name tag read Mrs. Malcolm.

"My friend took a blow to the head the other night. He seemed okay - he said he was okay - but he's been suffering from headaches and stuff for the last few days. When we were leaving the police station he collapsed."

Nick was very worried about Cody and it showed in his body language as well as his voice.

"Then it's a good thing you brought him in," Nurse Malcolm said. "I'll get a guerney and we'll get him into a examination room to get checked out."

A couple of minutes later a couple of husky orderlies arrived with the gurney and got Cody on it. Then they wheeled him off to a private examination room where Mrs. Malcolm proceeded to get his pulse, blood pressure and temperature in addition to checking his eyes.

Half an hour later, these preliminary tests done, Cody was wheeled off to radiology for x-rays and then for a CAT Scan. He was extremely pale and unfocused and still had trouble concentrating and remembering what he was asked.

"Excuse me," a young, harried-looking doctor asked, "are you the gentlemen who brought Cody Allen in?

"Yeah," Nick replied. "How is he?"

"We're very concerned," Murray added unnecessarily as it was written all over their faces.

"He'll be fine," Dr. Hardwick said. "He's got a mild concussion and everything that goes with it including slurred speech, double vision and difficulty concentrating and remembering questions and events. He doesn't remember exactly what happened to him - would you care to explain?"

"A few nights ago we got involved in an attempted parental kidnapping," Nick told the man. "Cody apparently got tossed into one of the souvenir booths on the street - we were in Chinatown at the time - and hit his head on something. We didn't actually see it. Murray and I were out of the fight before that but we only got the wind knocked out of us."

"I see. How did Mr. Allen seem to you when you found him?"

"He was dizzy and had trouble standing up at first. He said he was okay so we went home. I gave him some aspirin and put him to bed. He ran a slight fever with bad dreams but seemed ok aythe next day."

"Well that would seem to be the problem," Hardwick told them severely. "He should have been brought in here to be checked out the night it happened. You're lucky that it's only a concussion - it could have been a skull fracture or a serious brain injury."

"You're right," Murray said contritely. "We should have. But you say he's going to be ok?"

"Yes, he'll be fine. He's resting right now while the paperwork is being filled out. You can take him home but he's to rest and he'll need monitoring for a few days to a couple of weeks." A clerk approached and handed him the paperwork he was waiting for. He handed it to Nick to sign. "Take him home and put him to bed. Keep an eye on him. Make sure he has no difficulty waking up. Don't give him anything heavy to eat for a few days - he's very apt to be nauseous. Soup, broth - milkshakes will be okay. Jell-o and such like."

He took the signed paperwork from Nick. "He's not to do anything strenuous. If the symptoms you've observed over the last few days don't dissipate within the next two weeks I want you to bring him back here for another check up. Here's my card."

Murray took the card and put it in his pocket while Nick folded the discharge papers and put them in his waller.

"Can we take him home now?" Nick asked.

"Yes. As a matter of fact here he comes now."

Cody arrived in a wheelchair pushed by a candy striper. He was still pale but for the moment his eyes seemed to be a bit more focused, than they had been earlier. The Italian went out to the ER parking lot and brought the Jimmy around to the door. Together the three of them got Cody settled in the front passenger seat, then the candy striper went back to the emergency room with the chair. Murray climbed, awkwardly as always, into the rear passenger seat and Nick got behind the wheel. Driving very cautiously he headed for Pier 56 and the Riptide.

Once there, Cody was helped out of the truck and guided to the boarding steps. Nick boarded first and helped Cody down the the stairs while Murray watched from behind. Then it was down to the cabin that the two older men shared and Cody was put helped out of his street clothes and made comfortable in his bunk. Boz went to the galley, leaving Cody in Nick's capable hands and opened a can of soup. Once the soup was finished and the dishes taken away, Nick helped Cody lie down and ensured that he was well covered.

For the next few days all Cody did was sleep, try to read, take aspirin for the headache and sit in the sun - provided he had sunglasses and his cowboy hat on - with Nick or Murray watching him. They took no jobs that required anything more than computer background checks by Murray. Murray worked on a couple of magazine articles and did some tinkering with the latest invention he had going - some sort of gizmo that was supposed to boost a car engine's performance.

Two weeks later Cody was finally back to normal. To his friends that meant arguing with them, teasing them, fretting about how the Cubs kept losing baseball games and watching the girls on the Contessa as they dove off the yacht into the harbor to cool off. It was a wonderful to see the old Cody Allen finally emerge again. It had been a rough two weeks.


End file.
